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Qu:xnaṣ
Qu:xnaṣ is a weird language by The Kaufman. Features *large sound inventory *agglutinative *polysynthetic *consonant harmony *vowel harmony *immense noun and verb things *plural is the default number *... Phonology Consonants /n/ /p t c k kʲ kʷ kʷʲ q qʷ/ /b d ɟ g gʲ gʷ gʷʲ/ /p' t' c' k' kʲ' kʷ' kʷʲ' q' qʷ'/ /pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ kʰʲ kʰʷ qʰ qʰʷ/ /s sʲ ʃ ɕ x ç/ /ts tsʲ tʃ tɕ/ /ts' tsʲ' tʃ' tɕ'/ Harmony Quxnaṣ has consonant harmony, based on palatalization. A word may have only "hard" (non-palatalized) or "soft" (palatalized) consonants. The hard and corresponding consonants are presented in a table below: The ejective counterparts of those consonants have the same soft equivalents, and the consonants /n p b q/ are neutral. Vowels /i e ə/ /u o ɯ a/ /iˀ eˀ/ /uˀ oˀ ɯˀ aˀ/ Non-glottalized vowels distinguish length, which is only used in forming a singular number. Long vowels are indicated by adding : after a vowel: for /a: e: i: o: u: ɯ:/ respectively. /ə/ can only be short. Some of the vowels also distinguish roundedness, working basically the same as the hard/soft distinction in consonants. Other vowels are neutral. Allophony (To be done) Grammar The grammar of Quxnaṣ is polysynthetic and agglutinative. Nouns So we begin with nouns since there aren't really any pronouns, only pronominal suffixes. The nouns in Quxnaṣ (are fairly simple and) inflect for: # Derivations/compounding roots (a noun may have any number of them) # Class (agrees with the derivation if it modifies the class) # Number # Proximity (includes a "visibility" distinction) # Possession The example for noun declension will be a fully declined form of *''q'a-s-q-'' "swamp" - q'asqbüt'ka Notes to self Common Rules Qu:xnaṣ, like Eskimo-Aleut, is only suffixing. If a schwa occurs right before the suffix, it's neutralized, e.g. qʰuk'ots-t'u-ktsə "quite a prey" + ''-bü'' (paucal) > qʰuk'ots-t'u-kts-bü Root and Derivations The root and derivations are completely regular, so I won't say anything aside the following note. If there is a derivation and a grammatical process requires changing the root vowel, the derivation's vowel (if present) takes all the changes instead. Class There is a plenty of noun classes, which often serve the role of derivations but are marked differently. Unlike the derivations, they aren't considered a part of the root, and if there's a grammatical process like the one I've mentioned, the vowel change is still taken by the root or the last derivation. Number There are 4 numbers: plural, singular, lesser paucal and greater paucal. The plural, as mentioned in the "features" section, is the default number and takes no change, while the singular requires lengthening the root vowel (being the grammatical process example of which is presented in an above table). The paucals take the suffix ''-bü-'', inserted in the number slot. Proximity There are 3 "basic" grades of "proximity", being proximal, medial and distal. The secondary (personal) distinction is based on proximity of the object to the speaker and/or the hearer. The personal distinction is: # proximity to speaker # proximity to addressee # equal proximity to both speaker and addressee The 3rd set doesn't distinguish between medial and distal. The suffixes may also be attached one to another, the "closer" suffix being the first, to signify differing proximity to speaker and addressee. Possession The possession is distinguished by person, positivity and basic number. The singular is formed by lengthening the suffix's vowel, but there are 2 exceptions: * in 1st person negative the singular is formed by replacing the ''-qsəx'' suffix with ''-q'o:x'' * in 3rd person it's formed by replacing the suffixes by ''-č̣u'k'' and ''-č̣a:x'' for positive and negative respectively Category:Languages